BAGHDAD -- A triumphant Iraqi prime minister on Tuesday toured the western city of Ramadi, just a day after government troops routed Islamic State militants from the area and recaptured a key government complex.

Iraqi state TV reported that Haider al-Abadi was in Ramadi but offered no further details. But an Iraqi military commander, Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Belawi told The Associated Press that the prime minister kicked off the visit by meeting security and provincial officials for the latest updates.

Across the city meanwhile, military engineering teams were clearing bombs from the streets and nearby buildings, al-Belawi said, even as sporadic clashes were underway in outlying parts of the city.

Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, fell to IS in May, marking a major setback for Iraqi forces and the U.S.-led campaign. The Baghdad government was quick to announce a counter-offensive to retake the city but attempts repeatedly stalled.

Then in November, al-Abadi's forces announced a major push to recapture Ramadi, warning residents to leave and advancing quickly across the Euphrates River.

Their progress was subsequently slowed by heavy IS resistance, booby-trapped buildings and sniper fire. The militants blew up all bridges leading into the city centre.

On Monday, Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, drove IS militants out of the city centre and raised the Iraqi flag over the government complex.

As significant -- and symbolic -- as the action was, Iraqi military officials said Islamic State fighters were still holed up in various pockets of the city.

Ramadi, located about 130 kilometres (80 miles) west of Baghdad, and nearby Fallujah, which lies half-way on the road to Baghdad and remains under IS control, saw some of the heaviest fighting of the eight-year U.S. intervention in Iraq.

Monday's recapture of the government complex is certainly likely to lift the morale of Iraqi forces, who were badly shaken by the city's fall in May, which came despite months of U.S.-led airstrikes and advances against IS elsewhere in the country.

The IS still controls much of northern and western Iraq, as well as vast swaths of neighbouring Syria. It has declared a caliphate in the areas under its control and imposed a harsh and violent interpretation of Islamic law.

Iraqi state TV was replaying Monday's footage from Ramadi, showing troops, some waving Iraqi flags and others brandishing machine-guns, chanting and dancing inside what it described as the government complex in central Ramadi. Soldiers could be seen slaughtering sheep in celebration near heavily damaged buildings.

Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the head of the U.S. Central Command, congratulated Iraqi forces on the "important operational achievement."

Authorities have not provided casualty figures from the fighting or Ramadi.

Advertisements

Latest Canada & World News

SAN FRANCISCO -- The illegally occupied Oakland warehouse where dozens of partygoers perished in a blaze does not appear in a database fire inspectors use to schedule inspections and may never have been checked for fire hazards, a firefighter with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
Source

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of -- Large crowds are expected to gather in South Korea's capital to celebrate the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye over an explosive corruption scandal that saw millions protest in previous weeks.
Source

WASHINGTON -- Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani formally withdrew from consideration for a post in President-elect Donald Trump's administration Friday, putting an end to his ill-fated bid to lead the State Department. Trump is now seriously considering Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for the post.
Source

Kevin O'Leary is expected to announce his intentions on his bid for the federal Conservative leadership on Monday, sources confirm.
The 62-year-old businessman-turned-reality-star is expected to tell Conservative members of parliament during a meeting he's hosting over the lunch hour.
Source

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A woman assaulted as a girl during a 1982 sexual attack that killed her mother says she was coerced into identifying the wrong man as the assailant and is asking Missouri’s governor to free that person who has spent 34 years in prison for the crimes.
Source

MONTREAL -- The Bay store in downtown Montreal was fined $765,000 for illegally releasing pollutants into the St. Lawrence River, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said Friday. But Nathalie Houle of the federal government's public prosecution office was unable to confirm a Montreal La Presse report the fine was imposed after roughly 146 kilograms of PCBs from old transformers on the building's roof leaked into a drain and into the river.
Source

WASHINGTON -- Corporate registrations in Delaware show that President-elect Donald Trump shut down some of his companies in the days after the election, including four companies that appeared connected to a possible Saudi Arabia business venture.
Source

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A refrigerator was ruled out as the cause of a fire at a warehouse in Oakland that killed 36 people, but investigators were still looking at electrical systems as possible ignition sources, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Friday.
Source

Police in Florida say a man shot his ex-wife four times during an argument at an Orlando karaoke bar early Friday morning.
Tu Quoc Ho, 43, was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm, tampering with evidence and domestic violence battery, Orlando News 6 reports.
Source

Appearing jovial and relaxed, Donald Trump plunged back into election politics Friday, a full month after he won the presidency, enthusiastically prodding Louisiana Republicans to turn out for Saturday's Senate runoff election and protect the party's 52-48 margin in Washington.
Source